7 // School of Architecture

The Dalhousie Medjuck Architecture Building was designed by Herbert Elliot Gates and built in 1908-1909. The neoclassical style building was built to house the Nova Scotia Technical College, later known as the Technical University of Nova Scotia. The building was renovated many times over the years to expand its facilities, including in 1927-28; 1931; 1961-63; 1965; and 1970. The construction of a gymnasium addition in 1931 revealed two cannons buried beneath the school. Because the Provincial Museum of Science had no room for the artifacts, they were reburied. Both were excavated and moved to the Halifax Citadel in 1959. More renovations in 1961 prepared for the opening of the School of Architecture that fall. The building was also home to the Nova Scotia Museum of Science for more than a decade, ending when it moved to a new facility in 1970. Renovations in 1970 were delayed by the strikes of carpenters, labourers, and electrical and sheet metal workers, which led to the temporary closure of the building. The Technical University of Nova Scotia merged into Dalhousie University in 1997. Previously known as the H Building, the structure was renamed the Ralph M. Medjuck Building of Architecture and Planning in 2005 after the donor.